Most of the time, the business data revolves around months, quarters, and years. There are times at which the dates and intervals between them make a huge difference. You cannot go wrong with differences between dates or make mistakes in performance evaluations.
If you're looking for an easy and automated way to calculate date differences, then Excel has the right one for you. The Datediff in Excel is a pre-programmed function that allows users to evaluate the perfect difference between any two business dates with precision regardless of days, months, or years.
In this tutorial, you will understand Datedif in Excel and how to implement it in real-time.
What Is DateDif in Excel?
DateDif in Excel is a preprogrammed function that allows users to evaluate the difference between any two dates in terms of days, months, quarters, or years.
The Syntax of DateDif in Excel is as follows:
=DATEDIF (start_date, end_date, unit)
Start Date - Beginning Date
End Date - Ending Date
Unit - Days/Months/Quarters/Years
Following the definition and syntax of DateDif in Excel, try to implement it in real-time.
How to Implement Datedif in Excel?
DateDif In Excel can be implemented with ease in a few simple steps as follows.
- Step 1: Select the beginning or start date
As shown in the image, the first column named "Start Date" will store the beginning or start dates of the calendar. Remember the cell address as you will be using it in the datediff function in Excel.
- Step 2: Select the end or last date
As shown in the image, the second column named "End Date" will store the ending or last dates of the calendar. Remember the cell address as we will be using it in the datediff function in Excel.
- Step 3: Implement the datedif in Excel.
Select a cell in the third column so that it is adjacent to the start and end dates, as shown below.
Write down the formula as:
“=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"y")”
Here,
- Datedif if the function
- Cell A2 is the Start date reference
- Cell B2 is the End date reference
- "Y" is the reference to the year's parameter in the difference
The final result will be executed as shown below.
You have come to an end of this tutorial on Datedif in Excel. If you have any queries about the topic discussed, please let us know in the comment section below.
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Next Steps
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If you have any doubts, please let us know in the comments below, and our Excel experts will resolve them at the earliest.
